aj12754's Reviews
8 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 8Sort by: Title 
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The Union Square Cafe Cookbook: 160 Favorite Recipes from New York's Acclaimed Restaurant
By Danny Meyer, Michael Romano
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1994
Bar Nuts : page 8
I first encountered this recipe years ago when it was printed in the food section of the Washington Post. Immediate infatuation...and I whipped up batches of these addictive nuts (spiced with rosemary, a bit of cayenne, brown sugar and salt and pepper) when guests were coming for dinner.
Especially nice for fall/winter entertaining because they are best served warm. When I found a copy of the Union Square Cafe cookbook in a used bookstore, the first thing I did was check to make sure the book included this recipe.
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This is a pleasant soup -- easy to make but with lots of chopping -- with a subtle spiciness (cumin, coriander, ginger, curry). I think it was good ... not great ... but I also think this is one of those soups that will be much better tomorrow once the flavors have more time to come together.
Served with a salad of watercress, endive, clementine sections, and roasted hazelnuts. I used the Ad Hoc at Home honey vinaigrette to dress the salad. I ended up liking this one a lot but my husband would be happy never to see watercress again.
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I like the idea of this better than my execution (overcooked by a minute or two). Also I wonder about the mix of herbs used (basil, tarragon and chives). I think parsley, basil and chives might have made more sense. The recipe suggests serving this with a peach chutney (also in the Union Square Cafe cookbook) but it called for ingredients I didn't have. So, thinking basil, I settled on the tomato chutney in the Gourmet cookbook (p. 905) -- nice chutney and made with canned tomatoes and mostly basic pantry items.
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I would describe the seasoning here as more Indian (in a slightly spicy without a lot of heat way) than Asian. The marinade is a snap and the sauce (tomatoes, red onion, garlic, cucumber, and spices plus a half cup of the marinade) is quick and full of flavor. I used my cast iron grill pan for the chicken and as the exterior began to dry out before the interior was fully cooked, I pulled the chicken off the grill, sliced it and threw it into the simmering sauce to finish cooking without drying it out.
The recipe calls for 2 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes but I used a 14 oz. can of tomatoes with no ill effects.
I am just dipping my toe into Indian food -- my husband generally doesn't care for it -- but we both like this quite a bit served over rice with some sauteed cucumbers on the side.
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Unless you are a real connoisseur of swordfish, I'd say the compote (tomatoes, roasted peppers, sauteed leeks and zucchini, golden raisins plumped in white wine, toasted pine nuts, garlic, balsamic vinegar, EVOO, and basil, S&P) is the show here. It would be good with grilled anything.
My compote was based on what I had available -- so fewer tomatoes and more roasted peppers than the recipe called for. The raisins were supposed to be briefly simmered in white wine but I put both in the microwave for 30 seconds and then let them come to room temperature before draining and adding the raisins to the compote. Also, rather than adding raw garlic to the compote, I briefly sauteed the garlic with the zucchini since I think raw garlic can be a little harsh or overpowering. Even with my somewhat past ready-for-primetime pine nuts, the compote was delicious.
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A nice work out for my knife skills "hashing" the sprouts, although that work-out makes this a bit more time-consuming than my "go-to" recipe for sprouts (halving them, tossing with EVOO and kosher salt and pepper, and roasting). And although this was good, it was not great...I think the "hashed" sprouts would have been better simply sauteed in a little butter with some kosher salt and pepper. I just didn't think the lemon or the poppy seeds or the white wine did much of anything but mask the flavor of the sprouts ... not a good thing to a sprout lover such as myself.
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Mushroom Soup with Barley and Wild Rice : page 98
This is another "clean out the produce drawer" soup (carrots, celery,onion, garlic, parsnips), but it has a more sophisticated flavor thanks to the addition of sage and madeira. The texture is nice too -- the broth is rich and silky while the barley and wild rice are more chewy.
I used chicken broth rather than vegetable broth, but otherwise made no changes. If vegetable broth is used, this recipe is completely vegetarian.
Served with a salad of mesclun, sliced pear and shaved fennel (thank you Zuni Cafe for the idea of pairing fennel with pear) with a vinaigrette made of pear-infused vinegar, buckwheat honey, a bit of dijon. and grapeseed oil. This dressing was actually my husband's favorite part of the whole meal.
I have started using grapeseed oil in all my vinaigrettes since attending a cooking demo given by Nate Appleman (A16 cookbook) who recommended grapeseed oil rather than EVOO because it is light enough not to overpower the other flavors in the vinaigrette. I think he's right.
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Shrimp with "Gazpacho" Sauce : page 156
This was a pleasant change of pace with very nice summery flavors. The gazpacho sauce is simple and can be done ahead. It is strained after cooking (which I did) but it would be fine I think to just leave it a bit chunky after the blending stage. I replaced the jalapeno with some Asian chili paste since I sometimes find the former to be a bit harsh for my taste.
I did mess up by not noticing that the oil amount is divided and used in three different steps (not mentioned in ingredient list) -- so I added all the oil to the strained sauce instead of reserving some for cooking the shrimp. I ended up being glad I'd made that mistake because after the sauce sat a bit the oil -- now gazpacho flavored -- rose to the top and I skimmed off more than enough to cook the shrimp in; I think it added another layer of flavor.
Served over Israeli couscous to which I'd stirred in some of the sauce as well since I followed my usual practice of making a full recipe of the sauce even if I am only doing half the number of servings. Served with a Spanish rose.
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